"In 1806 the craze for gambling had spread throughout Russia. Music is scored by Georges Auric and cinematography by Otto Heller. It stars Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans, Yvonne Mitchell and Ronald Howard. The Queen of Spades is directed by Thorold Dickinson and adapted to screenplay by Rodney Ackland and Arthur Boys from the story written by Alexander Pushkin. I ask for the last time, are you going to tell me the secret of the cards? Or are you not? Oh, speak! Speak to me! You old sphinx.Ĭapt. That's it, isn't it? I'll make a bargain with you tell me your secret and I'll take your sin upon my soul. The secret is connected with some terrible sin. Herman Suvorin: For the love of God! If you've any human feeling in your breast, you can't refuse me. What would another fortune mean to him, a wastrel and a spendthrift? But I'm not a man of that sort. What good is the secret to you? For whom are you keeping it? For your grandson? He's rich enough. Please! Just think those three words aloud. Please! Oh, it's no use pretending you don't know anything about it. But to me, it will bring happiness for the rest of my life. Herman Suvorin: Don't cry out! Don't be alarmed, please, don't be alarmed. Just don’t go into it expecting anything groundbreaking, innovative, or new in any sense of the word. Queen of Spades is a decently made scare-fest that more or less delivers on its promise and is worth seeing for that reason. Some of the dialogue also scans as cheesy, and a few of the performances leave a lot to be desired. There aren’t any that you won’t see coming a mile away.
And the scares, although effective, are also fairly predictable. The queen’s legend and backstory are compelling enough, but their development feels rushed and hastily tacked on to the beginning of the film. This film comes alongside its share of frustrations, as well, though. Naturally, that’s important – an antagonist creepy enough to potentially keep you up late at night long after the final credits have rolled. You indeed dread seeing her pop onto the screen, and she’s menacing enough that you wouldn’t want her after you on a dark, stormy night. When the titular Queen of Spades does appear, she’s sufficiently scary and very well-designed. White does an excellent job of building tension and following through with some serious frights that genuinely keep the audience on their toes. However, it also manages to accomplish what it sets out to do – create and perpetuate a suspenseful atmosphere of dread, as well as deliver on a few well-executed scares. This film is precisely what it sounds like it is - a riff on a super familiar plot that’s been done to death many times before. If you think that Queen of Spades doesn’t sound very original, you’re right. Naturally, the Queen of Spades turns out to be more than just a scary story, leaving the film’s unwitting protagonists to get to the bottom of things before they lose their lives. However, the entire group begins to experience graphic, disturbing visions once the ritual is complete. Performing the ritual must fall to the youngest of the group, which happens to be 13-year-old Anna ( Ava Preston). After doing some research, they uncover the story of the queen’s legend and detailed instructions for summoning her. They first become curious about the legend when they hear a suicidal man say the words “queen of spades” before jumping to his death from a roof. This film is about a group of teens who happen to catch the queen on a bad day and wind up facing the consequences. There’s also a good chance that she’ll hurt you or otherwise harass you. She’s said to be fickle about actually appearing, but if she does decide to grace you with her presence, she just might grant you a wish. Those participating in the summoning must then chant the queen’s name three times. To summon the Queen of Spades, one draws a door and a staircase on a mirror. Queen of Spades focuses on a Russian version of the well-known Bloody Mary legend. But is it really worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as other urban legend flicks, or is it better forgotten sooner rather than later? Unfortunately, though, there are just as many forgettable films out there that get the same formula horrible wrong.ĭirected and co-written by Patrick White, Queen of Spades is one of the latest additions to the urban legend subgenre. Tried and true classics like Candyman, The Blair Witch Project, and The Ring are just a few examples that really get this idea right. As any horror fan already knows, a good urban legend can be a terrific foundation for a genre film.
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